Chapter 21 | The Assassin Gives Praise
Now that Snake was gone, I hurried to reunite with Dia and Tarte. Naturally, they rushed over as soon as they caught sight of me.
“Your spell was amazing, Lord Lugh! It was like a beam of light.”
“Man, it’s annoying that I can’t use it even though I helped develop it.”
Tarte’s eyes shone with admiration, while Dia looked miffed.
Developing Railgun had been a trying process because of the need to cast three spells at once. Dia had worked very hard to make sure everything was just right.
I’d already had the idea for Railgun before I’d received Multi-Chant from My Loyal Knights. Originally, it had used three mages.
Dia would have used fire magic to control the temperature and lower it to absolute zero. Tarte would use wind magic to convert mana into electricity. I would be in charge of reducing air resistance and firing the gun. If the three of us worked together, we could use Railgun without Multi-Chant.
Our practice had led to Tarte using her Electric Shock spell. If I ever lost the powers Epona gave me, we’d have to go back to activating Railgun the old way.
“You’ll be able to use it eventually, Dia. Your mana capacity is growing, right?”
“I’m working hard on it every day, but it’s frustrating how slowly it increases.”
“Well, I got to this point by working at it since I was two years old. It’s just something you need to keep at.”
Dia was superior to me when it came to her mana control and knowledge of magic formulas. Unfortunately, her mana capacity was too low to use the three spells required for Railgun simultaneously.
“I do understand that, but it doesn’t make me feel any better,” she grumbled.
“Even if you can’t use Railgun, you do have that other option,” I reminded.
“That’s true, but it’s not much better than Cannon Strike.”
I was referring to a scaled-down version of Railgun made for Dia. It used Fahr Stones crushed into a powder, reducing the amount of mana needed for conversion. The result was a versatile spell that Dia could use.
While she was correct in saying it wasn’t much better than Cannon Strike, the level of force and pinpoint accuracy was still plenty.
“Someday, I will definitely make a spell that only I can use. Something with incredible precision and that requires special processing ability. Then you’ll know how frustrating this is, Lugh. It’s seriously annoying. Just watch, you’ll have this amazing magic staring you right in the face, but you won’t be able to use it. Mwa-ha-ha-ha.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
If anyone could achieve something like that, it was Dia. It would have to be something that demanded a high degree of mana control. Dia hated being wasteful. She wouldn’t go to the effort of making something troublesome to cast unless it was worth the effort twice over.
“Tarte, how are you feeling? You pushed yourself really hard,” I said.
Beastification took a significant toll on the body. Moreover, she’d used Dian Cecht and fought up until her transformation hit its limit. She was acting like things were all right, but she had to be exhausted.
“I-I’m a little tired, but I’m fine.” Contrary to Tarte’s words, her knees were shaking, and she was covered in sweat. Even standing had to be difficult.
The side effects of the drug were manifesting as well. Rapid Recovery accelerated her recuperation, but it also caused toxins to erupt throughout her body to expunge the drug. It was a painful sensation. There was no way she was only a little tired.
I smiled bitterly and picked Tarte up in my arms. I was taken aback by how incredibly warm she felt.
“Eek! Lord Lugh, why—?”
“Relax, Tarte. I’m going to carry you.”
I had our coachmen at a safe distance to ensure they didn’t get wrapped up in this. It would be impossible for Tarte to walk that far on her own as she was.
“But I’m your retainer,” she protested.
“Don’t worry about it. As teammates, it’s only natural that we support each other. Or do you find this objectionable?”
“…No, I don’t. It actually makes me really happy.”
Tarte blushed and looked away out of embarrassment.
“I’m a little jealous. But I’ll allow it for today. You had it harder than any of us this time, Tarte,” Dia stated, walking beside me.
“That’s right. You did great, Tarte,” I said.
She’d tackled the most perilous and challenging role expertly. I’d have been unfit as a leader if I didn’t tell her how good a job she did.
“N-no, what I did wasn’t all that great. Lady Dia is the one who cast Demonkiller, and Lord Lugh actually slew it!”
“Too much humility can sometimes upset other people. Are you saying that Dia and I are both wrong in our evaluation of your performance?” I teased gently. Tarte didn’t pick up on that and grew more flustered.
“N-no, I didn’t mean that at all…,” she hurriedly stammered.
Dia nodded to herself. “Then just accept our praise happily. Say, Lugh. What if you give her some kind of reward?”
“That’s a good idea. Is there anything you want, Tarte?” I inquired.
For some reason, that question made her face turn so red that I thought she was going to start whistling with steam.
“U-um, well, can I ask when we are alone?” she managed after a moment.
“Wow, you want to ask him away from my prying ears. Is it something naughty?” needled Dia.
“N-no, it’s not!”
“Yeah, I doubt it. You’re not nearly that daring a girl.”
Dia liked to bully Tarte sometimes. It was her way of showing affection.
Time passed, and we arrived at the carriage. The coachmen had waited at the specified place, just as I’d ordered. Yet something still bothered me.
I’d had the servants wait here so they wouldn’t get hurt, but also so they wouldn’t see how we fought the demon. It seemed strange that they’d all obeyed when you considered that the central government undoubtedly wanted information on how I went about killing demons.
I could see those in charge assuming I only pretended to fight and then fled. Surely they’d desire some method of confirmation. Why would they trust that I’d done the job when I had no proof?
Regardless of all that, no one had been dispatched to keep an eye on us. Thinking one of the coachmen might have been a spy, I’d been on the lookout the entire time, but I never sensed any of them near the battle. Of course, there was a chance they moved stealthily enough that they evaded detection, but it was difficult to imagine anyone could outmaneuver a Tuatha Dé.
Something was definitely up. If I thought about it logically, this meant the government possessed a method of checking that the demon was dead without having to be directly present.
How would they react when I told them I’d slain the demon? Why would they believe my report?
I’d have to search carefully for the answers to those questions.
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